RECORD $1 MILLION RAISED AT ANNIVERSARY GALA

More than 500 guests attended Pratt’s glamorous 125th Anniversary celebration at the Waldorf=Astoria on October 15, raising a record-breaking $1,070,000 for scholarships through ticket sales. In honor of the anniversary, the Empire State Building glowed gold the night of the gala, reflecting Pratt's school colors. Guests were also decked out in their finest black and gold.

The gala commemorated the alumni and faculty whose iconic works have shaped our world, and honored the Pratt Family, who have actively supported the Institute since its founding by Charles Pratt in 1887; Maximilian Josef Riedel, CEO of Riedel Crystal of North America; Julie Taymor, director of theater, opera, and film; and Kehinde Wiley, artist and contemporary portrait painter. Proceeds from the event will go towards student scholarships.

Bruce Gitlin, chair of Pratt’s Board of Trustees, gave a warm introduction to the Pratt Family and presented Mike Pratt with the first award of the evening. Maximilian Josef Riedel accepted his award and acknowledged the school’s talented students, in collaboration with whom Riedel has sponsored projects. He was presented his award by Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner.

In her acceptance remarks, Julie Taymor stressed the importance of institutions like Pratt in educating artists. “There is no soul of America without the arts. Without the arts we don't have a culture, a history,” said Taymor. Jeffrey Horowitz, founder and artistic director of Theatre for a New Audience, presented Taymor her award. As a tribute to Taymor’s illustrious career, T.V. Carpio, Dana Fuchs, and Martin Luther McCoy, stars of the Academy Award-nominated film, Across the Universe, directed by Taymor, performed four Beatles’ songs from the film’s score during the gala.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons presented Kehinde Wiley with the award. In accepting his award Wiley placed Pratt students in a special category of artists. “Artists at Pratt are a particularly rare breed,” he said. “We have a responsibility to take the riches in front of us and tell the truth about what is out there,” he reminded the audience.

Undergraduate photography student Kevin Truong (B.F.A. Photography '13) also participated in the evening's speaking program, bringing guests to their feet with a standing ovation after he compared the world he grew up in—a refugee camp in Malaysia—to the world he lives in now, attending "one of the finest art and design schools in the world.

Truong stressed the importance of scholarships in his life and noted that he had received nearly $100,000 in scholarships to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer. "You want to believe that when you're chasing your dream the last thing you should worry about is money, but to be very honest and blunt that is the first thing you worry about.”

Honorees were presented an award designed by undergraduate industrial design student Casey Daurio
(B.I.D. '13). Jared Bell (Comm-D '12), an undergraduate communications design student, was also recognized for having designed Pratt’s 125th anniversary logo. This year’s gala also included the unveiling of works to be featured in 125 Icons, an exhibition curated in honor of the Institute’s anniversary featuring the most iconic works by Pratt alumni and faculty as voted on by members of the public. The exhibition will open to the public at Pratt Manhattan Gallery on November 30 and will run through January 2013.

Guests included Pamela P. Auchincloss, arts advocate, philanthropist, and Pratt family member; Hamish Bowles, International Editor at Large of Vogue; Arlene Dahl, actress; Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, writer, activist, television interviewer/producer, and former White House assistant; Helmut Jahn, architect; Ed Koren, alumnus and illustrator for The New Yorker; Fern Mallis, creator of New York Fashion Week, former executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and former senior vice president of IMG Fashion; Juan Montoya, interior designer; Carrie Moyer, alumna and artist; Tom Otterness, sculptor; Sheila Pepe, Pratt faculty member and artist; Sylvia Plachy, alumna and photographer for The Village Voice; Karim Rashid, industrial designer and former Pratt faculty member; Pratt Trustee Marc Rosen, Pratt alumnus, faculty member, and designer; Hal Rubenstein, fashion director of InStyle; Stefan Sagmeister, alumnus and renowned graphic designer; Christiane Siedel, actress on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire; and Danny Simmons, painter, and founder and president of Rush Arts Gallery.

Text: Amy Aronoff
Video: Corey Richardson and Ryan Cannava

Comments

[Thomas Cappuccio]

The education provided at Pratt Institute is exceptional. It attempts to merge concepts and techniques from both art and technology. At the same time, Pratt students, faculty and alumni have and continue to integrate their professional areas successfully within various communities. We must not forget that it was (and is) the artist which unites art and technology. These are some of the reasons why many disciplines of art are so well integrated in various communities and in daily life. Furthermore, the inventions of geometrical perspective, architectural drawing, mechanical drawing, and other forms of technical drawings constitute the general discipline of projective geometry. This discipline was discovered and developed by artists and designers, and in so doing made important contributions to mathematics, but just as importantly to the development of technology itself. In many ways art and design lead to the development of knowledge in certain areas of science, and not the other way around.

Continue your great work, and congratulations on this important Anniversary landmark.